Okay, it’s the year 2007. Where’s my flying car? Where’s the instant matter transporter? Where’s my mail-order factory-created baby?

Um, never mind about the baby part, but I could really use the other two. My girlfriend lives 800 miles away. Instant transport would be handy!

This is the future, though. We’re living it. So, what do we have that was science fiction a mere 30 years ago? Well, for one thing, the Star Trek tricorder is a reality, as is their flip-open communicator. We have a space station, but not the large graceful toroid promised to us. And we have robotic servants and even maids, which are just in their infancy and not quite ready to take over the world. I mean, I don’t see anyone besides the household cat running in terror from an errant Roomba.

Reading science fiction to me is no longer as exciting as reading about real science. The breakthroughs being made today boggle my mind. The gadgets and gizmos being cranked out during the next 5-10 years … wow.

It’s a good time for us gadget freaks to be alive.